Cris Collinsworth praises Aaron Rodgers, who lied about being vaccinated, for his honesty
If you didn't catch the first half of Sunday night's surprisingly exciting Bears-Packers game, then you missed quite the eyebrow raiser from Cris Collinsworth.
Talking over a sideline shot of Rodgers, wrapped in a big green coat, the Sunday Night Football color commentator decided to praise Rodgers — who lied about being vaccinated against COVID, then ignored the NFL's health and safety rules — for, of all things, his honesty. The moment was caught by Twitter user Timothy Burke:
"He doesn't care," Collinsworth said. "I mean, have you seen a guy — and in particular, this year — be more honest about everything?"
Ummmmm ... yes?
Quick recap for anyone out of the loop:
After Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 3, it quickly emerged the star quarterback wasn't actually vaccinated and had been flouting the NFL's COVID policy all season. All of this despite his comments from Aug. 27 insinuating he had been vaccinated.
"Are you vaccinated, and what's your stance on vaccinations?" a reporter asked Rodgers that day.
"Yeah, I've been immunized," he replied, adding he wouldn't judge anyone on his team for choosing to not get vaccinated.
Maybe Collinsworth was referencing Rodgers' behind-the-scenes contract talks, or his openness about wanting to host Jeopardy!.
But outright ignoring one of the biggest fibs any sports figure told this year seems like a bit of an omission. Especially since Rodgers himself later acknowledged he might have been "misleading."
Following news of his COVID infection in November, Rodgers attempted to explain himself on the Pat McAfee show, citing MLK and blaming the "woke mob." But four days later returned to the show to say he "made some comments that people might've felt were misleading."
"To anybody who felt misled by those comments, I take full responsibility for those comments," he said, stopping short of a full apology.
The NFL fined the Packers $300,000 and Rodgers $14,650 for failing to follow the league's COVID protocols.
Collinsworth's comments, as expected, drew some reactions:
